Leclerc Prepared To 'Play With Rules' Like Verstappen In 2025 Title Battle

Friday, 03 January 2025 at 12:52

Charles Leclerc suggested he feels ready to drive on the limit of the regulations, just like Max Verstappen, once he fights for the Drivers' title.

Max Verstappen has been accused of pushing the boundaries of the regulations (that guide how drivers should approach each other on the race track) multiple times in 2024.

The Red Bull Racing F1 driver found himself in a unique situation after the midpoint of the season, where he had a decent lead in the Championship, but his car wasn't as fast as those of his rivals anymore, and Lando Norris was catching up fast.

The McLaren driver was the only one who was close enough to close the gap to Verstappen, and he knew it. In this situation, the 27-year-old could afford to be more aggressive and focus all his attention on fighting only one driver - Norris.

This resulted in multiple extremely tense battles on track, numerous penalties, and even a couple of collisions - for which Max Verstappen received some criticism.

However, it ultimately seemed like the Dutchman did just what he needed to in order to secure his title 2 races before the end of the season.

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Some suggested that Lando Norris should have won if he had been less nice in his battles against Verstappen, but Zak Brown recently explained that Norris couldn't afford to be as aggressive.

Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc grew up racing Max Verstappen and thinks he has what it takes to fight the four-time world champion on the edge of regulations and beyond, as he told RacingNews365:

"You've got to pick your battles, and I feel like Max knows how to adapt to different situations, and we've seen it [in 2024]."

"There were moments where he was not aggressive, but when the end of the season arrived, and Lando was coming back there, you could see him play with the rules a lot more, and I feel like I've got that in me."

"I know that whenever big things will be at stake, when it will be the moment to take those risks with the right people, I'll go for it."

"But that's also why I've always enjoyed racing with Max, the mentality of the driver is a big part."

"We've known each other for a long time, and so it is always more exciting when we're fighting together."

"Unfortunately [not in 2024], because at the beginning of the season, he had quite a dominant car and we were not in the fight with him. He had no reason to be aggressive with us in some kinds of ways, and then we were playing catch-up."

"By the time we were competitive, there was Lando in-between, so he never really saw us as a direct competitor, so [in 2024], there weren't these fights."

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